1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to electronic auctions and, more particularly, to a distributed bid processing method for open-cry and descending price auctions.
2. Background Description
Most business activity on the Internet is limited to publicizing the business opportunity and conducting catalog based sales, but it will rapidly expand to include the negotiations conducted to settle the price of the goods or commodities being traded. These negotiations are currently conducted by human intermediaries through various forms of auctions, bidding systems for awarding contracts, and brokerages. The role of the intermediaries can now be performed by Internet trading applications at a fraction of the cost. Trading on the Internet allows a business to reach a larger number of potential customers and suppliers in a shorter time and a lower cost than possible by other modes of communication, and to settle business transactions with lower cost overhead in a shorter time. Hence the rapid emergence of Internet based trading applications. See Manoj Kumar and Stuart I. Feldman, “Internet Auctions”, published on IBM's Web site at /iac/papers/auction_fp.pdf, 1998.
Auctioned or brokered sales are the norm in the business world for negotiating trades of large value. But consumer sales and small scale purchases typically stay with fixed prices, perhaps because of the high overhead cost of using the auction or brokerage method. The new economics of the Internet will make auctions popular in consumer and small business transactions as well. H. G. Lee and T. H. Clark in “Impact of the Electronic Marketplace on Transaction Cost and Market Structure”, International Journal of Electronic Commerce, Vol. 1, No. 1, Fall 1996, at pages 127-149, present economic forces underlying this transition. Several success stories about Internet auctions are cited by Efraim Turban in “Auctions and Bidding on the Internet: An Assessment”, International Journal of Electronic Markets, Vol. 7, No. 4.